Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Austria: Advance Planning

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Austria: Advance Planning

We are trying to arrange a trip to Vienna and Salzburg in probably mid to late May 2002, and we are hoping to pre-arrange as many details as possible, since there are so many experiences we do not want to miss and want to render our time in Austria as stress free as possible. The must sees for us include at least one, hopefully a couple, high quality concert; the Lippanzer performance; the Vienna Boy's Choir; in Salzburg, the Mozart Marionette Theater Operetta performance. Is there any way to pre-purchase tickets to any or all of the attractions above ( while planning our trip ) either via some centralized point of contact or a 1-800 phone number? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for your help. Jeff

I arranged the following tickets ahead of time via the Internet and everything worked out perfectly: Salzburg - Marionette Theater: http://www.marionetten.at/index_e.html Salzburg - Festung Hohensalzburg: http://www.mozartfestival.at/index_festungskonz.htm The city's site [http://www.salzburginfo.at/desk/frame_home_e.htm] is very helpful. The cultural events search engine usually encompasses a large number of the well-known and lesser-known events. Although we purchased tickets to the Opera at the ticket window, we met others who bought them online and had no difficulty. The only site to buy tickets that I found in a quick search is using the link on http://info.wien.at/index_e.html

Oops ... the last item for the Opera was, as you probably guessed from the URL, for Vienna. (Sorry. My cough medicine's making me even more goofy today.)

I used nethotels.com. I book tickets throug them for the vienna boy's choir performance. I had my tickets deliver to the hotel. I highly recommend them.

Thanks Heather and xx123 for your helpful thoughts.

I think you will need to check right awawy for the Lippazaner performance. I do not known when the performances are. On the other hand, we just happened to share a compartment with a Central American couple on their way to Vienna. They did not have tickets for the Lippazaner show, but were able to acquire standing room places the day of the performance. Tickets to the Salzburg Marionette Theater can be arranged by your hotel quite easily. When we were there the place was half full. The music is not necessarily an operatta! It can be a full length regular opera such as Die Zauberflotte. I really don't see how buying a ticket to the Festung on the hill is a "stress reliever". You walk up to the ticket window, pay, and go in. It is about like buying a loaf of bread. If you are interested in opera, die Volksoper makes purchasing tickets quite easy. Just email them with your credit card number like I did. The late May lineup is great: Die Fledermaus, My Fair Lady, La Traviata and the Pirates of Penzance. However, I am not sure the Pirates would be my cup of tea sung in German; in fact, I think I would go elsewhere. At the Staatsoper, May 25 and May 28 you can attend a performance of The Tales of Hoffman. The music in this opera is incredible, but I think you just ignore the plot; it is a little macabre. For the Boys Choir, take a look at this site: http://www.musikverein.at/spielplan/...e=calendar.asp

Some of what you seem to be anxious about is small stuff; on the other hand some of it is big stuff. I think you will need to check right away for the Lippazaner performances. I do not known when the performances are. On the other hand, we met a Central American couple on their way to Vienna who did not have tickets for the Lippazaner show, but were able to acquire standing room places the day of the performance. To be quite frank about it, I thought it interesting, but boring. Slow motion horses. Tickets to the Salzburg Marionette Theater can be arranged by your hotel quite easily. When we were there the place was half full. The music is not necessarily an operatta! It can be a full length regular opera such as Die Zauberflotte. I really don't see how buying a ticket to the Festung on the hill is a "stress reliever". You walk up to the ticket window, pay, and go in. It is about like buying a loaf of bread. If you are interested in opera, die Volksoper in Vienna makes purchasing tickets quite easy. Just email them with your credit card number like I did. The late May lineup is great: Die Fledermaus, My Fair Lady, La Traviata and the Pirates of Penzance. However, I am not sure the Pirates would be my cup of tea sung in German; in fact, I think I would go elsewhere. At the Staatsoper, May 25 and May 28, you can attend a performance of The Tales of Hoffman. The music in this opera is incredible, but I think you just ignore the plot; it is a little macabre. For the Boys Choir, take a look at this site: http://www.musikverein.at/spielplan/startindex.asp?lang=e&page=calendar.asp If things are hard to get, put the pleas to your hotel desk major domo and see if something cannot be arranged. I know Ursula Keller at Der Altwienerhof seemed able to come up with tickets for us. Virtually any concert in Vienna is good because there are more talented musicians per square kilometer than any city except possibly London. I suggest also that you check the Kunsthistoriches Museum for any special exhibits going on there. We caught the last day of a special on El Greco last September.